Isn't this obvious? I mean I'm pretty cynical, but the first time I ever saw "amazon's choice" I figured oh - they have a higher profit margin on this or something - it's obviously not (necessarily) the best thing for me.
One of the big problems with e-commerce is trust, and I could easily see some bright spark at Amazon saying, "What if we did extensive testing, found the best-value item in each category, and gave it our blessing? We could reduce decision fatigue, increase revenue, and strengthen our customer bond."
We see Wirecutter out there making good money on doing exactly that, so it's not crazy to think Amazon would just do that themselves.
Wirecutter sometimes recommends (on commission!) products in categories they specifically recommend against buying, like SFF PCs!
Is that supposed to be a bad thing? Listing the best of the category, while also rating the category as a whole, means they're going above and beyond on what their job is! It's not a moral failing that their recommendations come with the context of "inside the category", that much should be obvious. And they can't tell you which products are """objectively""" worth your money, either.
"We said it was Amazon's choice, not the editor's choice. But here's a 5 dollar credit - we value your feedback at Amazon."
And its exact value is $5!
Not really. What's the point of this post, are you looking for someone to pat you on the back and tell you well done?